Topps Now Giancarlo Stanton Card of the Month

One of the perks of buying items directly from the Topps website is that you can earn loyalty points, which can be exchanged for things like special trading cards or coupon codes for discounts. At some point in August, I qualified for a new level in the loyalty program and chose to receive the Topps Now Card of the Month. At the time I ordered, it was a mystery as to what the card would actually feature. 

I got the card in the mail at some point, and discovered that it pictured Giancarlo Stanton and commemorated his being the 6th player in MLB history to reach 50 home runs for the season by the end of August. I like the image selected for the card, with all of the signs in the background. 

The back of the card is fairly sparse, with the card number, Stanton's name, team logo, a date, and a list of the six players to complete the feat. It's an impressive list of Mashers, although there are several names on the list that some would put an asterisk next to.

I was pretty happy with this card. Free cards are some of the best cards.

I am currently at the gas station on Fort Dix, trying to make use of the WiFi since my barracks don't have access, but the employees are mopping the floor around my feet, so I'd better cut this off and head back to my room. I guess it's a sign of dedication to my blog that I will walk a mile each way just to write up a post. 

Power Girl by John T. Howard

I've mentioned a time or two that I'm a member of several art groups on Facebook. Sometimes that leads me to obtain art from artists I probably wouldn't normally encounter. That was the case with today's artwork. 

Artist John T. Howard posted in one of the groups that he was open for commissions, along with a couple samples of his work. I won't look to his page from here, as his regular stuff is far from family- or work-safe. You can probably find him if you want to and aren't easily shocked. 

I have a certain fascination with art in the 'underground comix' style popularized by folks like R. Crumb, so I reached out and asked Howard if he could do a PG or PG-13 Power Girl commission for me. He agreed to do so, and quickly turned around the piece you see above. The art on the left is the original inked art, and the picture on the left is a digitally-colored print. He included some other stuff in the package, but my mail carrier left it outside in the rain and everything outside of the Power Girl art was water-logged and destroyed.

Overall, the commission process with John T. Howard was quick and pleasant, and I'd suggest working with him if you like the look of his art style. 

Pack of the Day 179: A Blaster of 2017 Topps Archives

Well, the Astros pulled it off and put the Dodgers away in Game 7 of a tight World Series. I was able to watch the game since I didn't have to be up all that early this morning, and it was really nice to see my favorite team celebrate their franchise's first title. 

I picked up this blaster of 2017 Topps Archives several months ago, probably soon after the product released. I don't even really remember what I pulled from it at this point, so it's like I get to break it open again!

The side of the box has all of the odds on it. The NPN contest expired a couple of months ago, so that information isn't of much use to anyone. 

I pulled a couple of Astros among the base cards, Evan Gattis and Ken Giles. I also got Frank Thomas showing off the 'big body-little head' look and Johnny Cueto showing his bubble gum bubble skills. 

My horizontal pulls included two of the Astros' playoff heroes, Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve. I also got some nice-looking cards of pitchers and a manager. I wish today's card sets included more manager cards. 

Among my inserts there was another Astro hero, wearing the uniform if his previous team. Justin Verlander was a huge part of the Astros' playoff run, and I don't think they would have won the title without making the move to acquire him.

My other inserts included some other guys, too. I don't really care one way or the other about Jeter, so the whole insert set devoted to him doesn't do anything for me. 

The final scan from this blaster break shows the blaster-exclusive coins I pulled. I did all right on them, getting Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge. At the time I opened this blaster, I looked up the Judge coin on eBay and it was selling for about half the price of a blaster.

I like the idea of the Archives product, but nearly every time I open some of it, I come away wishing there was a little more in each box. 

A Box of Cryptozoic's The Guild: Seasons 1-3

I made an order from Dave & Adam's Card Works a little while ago, and I ordered a box of Cryptozoic's The Guild: Seasons 1-3. It's a pretty cheap break, with a chance at pulling Felicia Day relics and autographs, so I usually throw a box or two into each order I make from Dave & Adam's. 

This box yielded one relic card, a t-shirt of Vincent Caso as the character Bladezz. The only real note of interest I have about this one is that I own a Cheesy-Beard's shirt like the one he is wearing in the picture. 

I got two autographs in this box, with one being from a fairly notable name in nerd culture. Wil Wheaton is pretty popular among nerds and geeks, and his autograph is probably the third-most desirable hit in the product, behind Felicia Day's two autograph variations. I'm not much of a Wheaton fan, but I can appreciate his place in the world of geeky celebrities.

The other autograph features Jeff Lewis, who plays one of my favorite Guild characters. I already had a copy of his card thanks to the generosity of San Jose Fuji, but I'll take another one.

This turned out to be a pretty good break if this product. I'll probably keep grabbing boxes as long as Dave & Adam's keep selling them. 

2013 Bowman Platinum Jon Singleton Auto Relic

I missed most of last night's Game 5 of the World Series. I had to be up early in the morning, so I went to bed after Cody Bellinger hit his big fifth-inning home run to put the Dodgers up 7-4. I kinda figured the game was over at that point, so it was a pleasant surprise to wake up in the morning and see that the Astros had tied it back up right away and gone back and forth to win in extra innings. Now they only have to win one of two in LA, which is an admittedly tall order. I hope Verlander can lead them to the trophy in Game 6.

I picked up this nice autograph-relic card of Jon Singleton from eBay recently. The card comes from 2013 Bowman Platinum. It's a shiny card. I was surprised to see that it didn't have a serial number, but that doesn't matter too much. I didn't spend a lot on it. 

The back of the card is your standard hit card fare. I don't know if I'll be able to watch Game 6, but I hope the Astros can seize the opportunity and close this thing out. A Game 7 would be exciting, but I'd rather have them put it away as soon as possible. 

2014 Panini Elite Die-Cut Jon Singleton

I've been pretty quiet on the blog lately. I'm attending an Army course in New Jersey, and there's no internet access in the barracks. My phone's data plan is less than forgiving, which is the price I pay for having a $25 phone bill each month. I've been pretty busy, but we got a day off today and I walked up to the coffee shop to get some internet, update my apps, pay my bills, and write a blog post. The Army has been a good career for me, but every so often I am inconvenienced by having to spend a month in a place that is relatively Spartan compared to my usual standard of living. 

I believe this card is an eBay purchase from a few months ago. I've got a couple versions of this Jon Singleton die-cut autograph from 2014 Panini Elite, but I think this is my first copy of the Red parallel. This one is numbered 17 / 25.

The Astros and Dodgers are making quite a World Series this year. I wish Houston would have gone up 3-1 last night, but they didn't and will probably need to win at home and once on the road to pull this thing off. The Dodgers are a tough team, though, so it's going to be a battle.

Topps Now Players' Weekend Astros and Bonus Cards

Well, the Astros made it plenty interesting, but they managed to finally knock the Yankees off in a series where the home team won each of the 7 games. I didn't get to watch Game 7 since I am stuck in some barracks without internet for a month-long course. I'll probably miss the World Series, too, but I guess that's the price you pay for career advancement. I hope the Astros can pull it off, but the Dodgers are a formidable opponent. 

One major key to the Astros' success is their little second baseman, Jose Altuve. A huge portion of their offense runs through him and his bat. Although I mentioned his small statue above, I got pretty tired of the TV broadcasts mentioning the size difference between Altuve and Aaron Judge, along with shots of them standing next to each other. 

When MLB did their Player's Weekend promotion, Topps released team sets to commemorate the event. Part of the promotion was that players were allowed to wear nicknames on their jerseys, and the Topps' Player's Weekend sets show the nickname jerseys on the back of each card. 

Most nicknames are some variation of the player's real name, which makes sense. I go by a shortened version of my last name in most circles, because some people have a hard time pronouncing it.

I guess the Astros' uniforms for this special weekend were all right, but I'm glad this isn't their regular color scheme. I thought this was a reused photo of Reddick, but it's not. This is just the standard Josh Reddick photo pose. 

I was pretty happy with the player selection for this set, as Josh Reddick and Evan Gattis both got cards. They aren't exactly the stars or hot rookies on the team, so they don't always get included in these things. 

Part of the draw for these sets was that if the team had a 6-game win streak after the All-Star break, you got a bonus card. The Astros had two streaks, so I got two extra cards. The first card celebrates Cameron Maybin and Justin Verlander helping the team get to six in a row. 

The second card pictures Brad Peacock and Yulieski Gurriel. Pretty cool stuff. I don't know if I'll buy as many Topps Now cards in 2018 as I did this year. Keeping up with these extra sets and the Astros' playoff Now cards is hard to do. Topps released nine cards for the team's Game 7 ALCS win! If the World Series is this card crazy, I might have to give up.